One of the most striking discoveries in recent years is the finding that the omega-3 fatty acid known as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is required for optimal brain development during feral and early infant life. In fact, failure for woman to establish adequate DHA nutritional status has been strongly implicated in impaired brain development of their offspring, manifestation as lower IQ and an increased propensity for learning disabilities. The problem stems from the fact the fetus is dependant u[on the mother’s body for much of its DHA requirements, after birth, infants continue to require DHA from breast milk during the first three months of life in order for optimal brain development to continue.
From a biochemical standpoint, the developing fetus can synthesize some DHA from the elongation and further desaturation if alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is richly supplied by flaxseed oil, and eicosapintaenoic acid (EPA), which is richly supplied by fish and fish oil. However, the fetal body and infant body (for at least the first three months of life) are incapable of synthesizing sufficient DHA t satisfy their needs for optimal brain development. Thus, it is imperative for women to ingest preformed DHA prior to becoming pregnant, during pregnancy and during their child’s first three months of life (assuming they are breast-feeding) in order to provide their children with the best opportunity to achieve ideal brain development and function.
Unfortunately, most women do not ingest sufficient amounts of DHA and there is no way to compensate once this critical time period have elapsed. Feeding the child DHA does not substantially affect brain development to the degree possible during pregnancy and the first three months of life.
Most women are not aware of the link between DHA and brain development. Thus, primary health care practitioners should alert female patients who and in their childbearing years as to the importance of regularly consuming fish (two servings per week) as well as taking an essential fatty acid supplement daily (my preference is an all-in-one that contains flaxseed, fish and borage seed oil.)
As stated above, DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid found in many fish, as well as in supplements that contain fish oil. The body can also synthesize DHA from ALA and EPA. Studies show that higher concentrations of DHA provided to the fetus and infant are associated with higher IQ scores throughout life (about six points higher on average). In addition, studies show that the first-born child generally has a higher IQ than the children that follow. This has been attributed to the fact that the first-born child gets the benefit of acquiring the DHA the woman has accumulated in her tissues over her lifetime, followed by additional DHA that is available from her breast milk.
Unless the woman adheres to a very aggressive omega-3 fat replenishment program from food and supplements, her subsequent children are much less likely to be afforded access to the same concentration of available DHA as that supplied to the first-born child. The trend is that the first-born child has a higher IQ and is less likely to manifest learning disabilities than their younger siblings.
None of this should be such a surprise to us when you consider that most of the dry weight of the brain is lipid (fat). This is related to the fact that brain activity depends greatly upon the functions provided by its outer, fatty waxy membrane to act as an electrical nerve-membrane to act as an electrical nerve-conduction cable. Compared to other body tissues, the brain content of DHA is very high. Thus, the developing brain has a very high need for DHA, which must be provided from the mother’s body.
The greatest dependence on dietary DHA occurs in the fetus during the “last third of pregnancy” and to a lesser extent in the infant during the first three months after birth. It is during this period that brain synapses are forming most rapidly, and an infant’s demand for DHA exceeds the capacity of the enzymes to synthesize it. As such, the fetus extracts DHA provided by the placenta during its development. After delivery, the infant is reliant upon the amounts of DHA available in breast milk in order to optimize development of brain structure and function. In fact, the increase in brain size during the final three months of pregnancy is threefold, and this rapid growth in brain development requires appreciable amounts of DHA. (Of note is the fact that DHA is also required for vision.)
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